N43 / N53 used injector success

[SoupAnxiety]

My N53 330i has suffered from the cold start misfire. I've been buying up used index 11 injectors and I've fitted the final 3x injectors this weekend. All six are now index -11. Cold start misfire finally fixed, idles perfectly even on a crisp winter morning. The best news of all is I cannot get the MPG to drop below 30 MPG, even around town in bumper to bumper traffic. I've not had chance to stretch its legs yet but by urban MPG is up by 3-5 MPG, I'll post a long term update.

To recap I bought 1x new injector (£90 eBay no bids), 2x used from Germany (£45 each) and 3x used from a UK breakers (Midland BMW, £65 each). So for £375 I've replaced all six injectors. The 4 MPG will take a long time to repay the parts bill but I'm pleased it's finally sorted. I spent a few quid extra on the o-ring tool and decoupling elements but all in I'm happy with the cost.

Posting just in case anybody has an upset N53. I'd tried everything else - coils, plugs etc. Runs absolutely fine and the NOx codes have also cleared up.

[helix402]

Glad it's sorted.

[mike9009]

What symptoms were you getting? My N53 throws a 'reduced power' error message very occasionally on a cold morning. No apparent mis-firing and power does not seem to reduce either.... Stopping and starting again clears the error??

How easy are the injectors to change?

Thanks

[SoupAnxiety]

mike9009 said:

What symptoms were you getting? My N53 throws a 'reduced power' error message very occasionally on a cold morning. No apparent mis-firing and power does not seem to reduce either.... Stopping and starting again clears the error??

How easy are the injectors to change?

Thanks

The classic upset injector symptoms are a lumpy idle from cold start (hunting for revs etc) and a misfire as you pull away. For me it only lasted for the first few minutes of the journey, but getting stuck at a junction just after starting triggered engine management lights and required an engine restart to clear the error. It was a pain. The codes were always, "combustion misfire on cylinder X". Yours sounds similar, the reduced engine power (do you have iDrive) might be the same codes as I was getting (I get the yellow check engine light, no iDrive). If you get your codes read look for "combustion misfire", don't worry about NOx codes as these were caused by the injectors. If your car is pre-2009 BMW might replace injectors if you are super lucky.

You can only fix it permanently when replacing all injectors with index 11. You can replace them in banks (cylinders 1-3 and 4-6) but you must not mix index 11 with other injectors. They are easy to change but you need an E10 Torx socket and I'd recommend magnetic tools otherwise you run the risk of the retaining clips and bar dropping into the cylinder. You will need to replace the decoupling elements and O-rings on the top of the injector, unofficially these can be reused but for a proper job you need to replace. You [b]must[b] code the injectors to each cylinder and this is the bit which you need to find a garage for. I bought a cheap INPA cable but it wouldn't play ball, thankfully my indy mechanic is great and coded them for me. If you need more info PM me, it's taken ages to track down and solve.

[mike9009]

SoupAnxiety said:

mike9009 said:

What symptoms were you getting? My N53 throws a 'reduced power' error message very occasionally on a cold morning. No apparent mis-firing and power does not seem to reduce either.... Stopping and starting again clears the error??

How easy are the injectors to change?

Thanks

The classic upset injector symptoms are a lumpy idle from cold start (hunting for revs etc) and a misfire as you pull away. For me it only lasted for the first few minutes of the journey, but getting stuck at a junction just after starting triggered engine management lights and required an engine restart to clear the error. It was a pain. The codes were always, "combustion misfire on cylinder X". Yours sounds similar, the reduced engine power (do you have iDrive) might be the same codes as I was getting (I get the yellow check engine light, no iDrive). If you get your codes read look for "combustion misfire", don't worry about NOx codes as these were caused by the injectors. If your car is pre-2009 BMW might replace injectors if you are super lucky.

You can only fix it permanently when replacing all injectors with index 11. You can replace them in banks (cylinders 1-3 and 4-6) but you must not mix index 11 with other injectors. They are easy to change but you need an E10 Torx socket and I'd recommend magnetic tools otherwise you run the risk of the retaining clips and bar dropping into the cylinder. You will need to replace the decoupling elements and O-rings on the top of the injector, unofficially these can be reused but for a proper job you need to replace. You [b]must[b] code the injectors to each cylinder and this is the bit which you need to find a garage for. I bought a cheap INPA cable but it wouldn't play ball, thankfully my indy mechanic is great and coded them for me. If you need more info PM me, it's taken ages to track down and solve.

Thanks - mine is a 2007 E92 with idrive. It has happened twice, but no noticeable 'rough' running or other adverse issues. Might need to use your advice at some point. For the time being it is a minor annoyance.....

Mike

[Mike335i]

I had a thought idle and bad misfire before changing all 6 injectors, but I am very capable of getting well below 30mpg still haha! I don't recall any mpg improvement actually. But the idle is much smoother and no more misfiring.

[318i Trouble]

I've been experiencing lumpy cold starts on my 2009 BMW E90 N43 318i. The RPM can fall down to 2/300 before going upto 700 and remaining there once the car is warming up. I've recently had 4 new spark plugs and a new coil installed as the car had a misfire in cylinder 3.

No warning lights on the dash but just loses RPM when turning over. The car sometimes also starts up absolutely fine with no problems at all. Drives fine once started.

I'm looking at replacing 2 fuel injectors. I was quoted a price by the garage, but I've found cheaper, Siemens VDO Injectors which are priced more attractively online.

Does anyone have any experience with these or can share some insight into what they know? I'd hate to go through all the "buy cheap by twice" but at the same time is it really worth paying the extra for BMW genuine products when Siemens could offer the same?

Thanks.

[markirl]

What codes are you getting and what are your lambda readings?
A few things to check:
- Unplug the MAF, if everything is OK with it unplugged your MAF is either dead or you have a severe air leak between MAF and throttle body
- If unplugging the MAF makes no change and its running lean (i.e. lambda value high), then you have a significant air leak most likely after the throttle body
- If unplugging the MAF makes no difference and its running rich, it's likely to be a leaky injector.

Similar to the OP, I fitted 4 used index-11 injectors to my n53 following BMW only fitting 2 index-11 injectors. If it were me, I would buy a set of second hand index 11 injectors. I believe Siemens VDO is stamped on the originals.

[318i Trouble]

Thanks, Markirl.

I'm not sure what codes are currently on the car - I don't have my own diagnostic tool.
I'll look into following the MAF Sensor steps you mentioned.

An update on the Injectors I ordered - I've received BMW Index 11 injectors made in Italy.

[Saynotoelectric]

Hi soup, would you kindly update us on how the used injectors are holding up? I’ve got a 2011 e93 330i and have the exact same misfire on cold starts but different codes, along with misfire on cylinder 6 I’m getting misfire at low tank level ( even when the tank is full). I’ve replaced cylinder 6 injector with index 11 but the problem is still present, a bmw specialist recommended I change all 6 so I am looking at used injectors.

Could you also give me the contact number for Midlands BMW, couldn’t seem to find them or if you could suggest we’re to find used injectors as ones on eBay are priced slightly below new ones. Thanks in advance.

[SoupAnxiety]

Saynotoelectric said:

Hi soup, would you kindly update us on how the used injectors are holding up? I’ve got a 2011 e93 330i and have the exact same misfire on cold starts but different codes, along with misfire on cylinder 6 I’m getting misfire at low tank level ( even when the tank is full). I’ve replaced cylinder 6 injector with index 11 but the problem is still present, a bmw specialist recommended I change all 6 so I am looking at used injectors.

Could you also give me the contact number for Midlands BMW, couldn’t seem to find them or if you could suggest we’re to find used injectors as ones on eBay are priced slightly below new ones. Thanks in advance.

The used injectors are still going strong - I'm on 190,000 miles now. Combined with the NOXEM sensor all is good and the N53 makes sense - performance and (comparative) economy.

If I were you I'd change all six injectors, you can't do it selectively, I tried this and it didn't cure the issue.

I found my used injectors by configuring alerts for eBay and being patient, it took a few months to collect them all used.

[e60N53]

SoupAnxiety said:

The used injectors are still going strong - I'm on 190,000 miles now. Combined with the NOXEM sensor all is good and the N53 makes sense - performance and (comparative) economy.

If I were you I'd change all six injectors, you can't do it selectively, I tried this and it didn't cure the issue.

I found my used injectors by configuring alerts for eBay and being patient, it took a few months to collect them all used.

Hi, looking for some advice! I bought an e60 3.0l a few months ago, recently when starting from cold it's very rough at idle and fine after a few minutes warming up. I suspect a leaking injector. When you say pick up second hand injectors, are these from car breakers or are they reconditioned units?

New injectors are very difficult to get, and a are big money at present, looking at £/€300-400 ea.

[RanchoGrande]

e60N53 said:

Hi, looking for some advice! I bought an e60 3.0l a few months ago, recently when starting from cold it's very rough at idle and fine after a few minutes warming up. I suspect a leaking injector. When you say pick up second hand injectors, are these from car breakers or are they reconditioned units?

New injectors are very difficult to get, and a are big money at present, looking at £/€300-400 ea.

If you can source the index 11 injectors second hand then it could be worth a punt if they aren't too expensive. I sold my old injectors on when I had them changed to the index 11 version - not sure what they were planning to do with them as it I sold them as spares/repair only.

For reference, I paid £180 for each injector in 2020 but even then, the prices fluctuated wildly.

[Dapa44]

2008 325i Touring N53 and I have the dreaded cold start rough idle and occasional engine light. Ive been trawling the internet to find peoples experiences in getting replacement injectors and this seems like the most recently active thread!

I have the car booked in at my trusted local indy (BMR Performance, West Sussex) and they are going to check the car over but fully expect them to say its injectors. Mine had the injector recall in 2012 so very much doubt it has index 11s and BMR have said a full set of six new injectors now costs nearly £2,000.

So has anyone had any success with 'remanufactured' items? Theres a German company (Diesel Fixneuss) who sell through ebay and have 99.9% positive feedback from 27,000 users. A set of 6 index 11s is £600 and they come with a full test report and 1 year warranty.

Any thoughts?

Edited by Dapa44 on Thursday 9th June 22:47

[RanchoGrande]

That seems like a good deal if they are genuine index 11 injectors. Have you been quoted £2k just for the new injectors? Or does that include fitting and vat etc.

[SoupAnxiety]

I bought individual used index 11 injectors until I had a set, they're still going strong. I doubt there's much done in terms of remanufacturing / refurbishment (I do not think these injectors respond to cleaning or repair in the usual way), but either way your quote is cheaper than new...

[bmwmike]

Soup's right, these injectors cannot be refurbed so they probably just test them and a bit of spit n polish and off they go. Year's warranty, if it is not too restrictive, can't go wrong?

These injectors are in short supply at the moment, seemingly, and are thus very expensive even compared to usual.

[Dapa44]

Grateful for your thoughts. I also guess its more of a clean than anything for the 'remanufactured' ones.

And yes, £330 x 6 just for the parts if I went for new! I think thats VAT included. Guessing fitting wont be a huge amount.

Edited by Dapa44 on Friday 10th June 12:29

[SoupAnxiety]

I fitted mine myself, I got an indy to do the coding afterwards to minimise cost. I reused fuel rails, seals etc and it's been fine for tens of thousands of miles.

I'll roll into 200k this / next month on my N53.

[Lee630i]

I collected up used injectors from written off cars, looking at the age of the Car I.e a 2008 1 series (that's where a few of mine came from) you can tell that the car wouldn't have come with index 11's and with low mileage, they couldn't have been installed that long ago if you see what I mean.

Including fitting the 5 I found (still need one, but the cars running fine with 5 index 11's and x1 index 9) I have spent around £500.

There was zero chance of getting new for possible a year or so and the car was running like a pig when cold so went for the used ones.